Reading

In conjunction with our dedicated teaching, we use ‘Accelerated Reader’ to give children the opportunity to delve into new books independently while building reading speed and fluency. Accelerated Reader is a fantastic programme which allows children to read books within their ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development). By reading within their ZDP, children are able to access the texts, enjoy the storylines while still making progress. 

This video for our pupils lets them know why Accelerated Reader is so important and what they need to do to succeed at it!

This informational video for parents will give you an insight into how you can help your child with their Reading on Accelerated Reader.

Star Reader - These assessments allow teachers to monitor reading progress and plan lessons according to the exact needs of the children in their class. Children take part in these assessments every half term and actually often look forward to them as they get to find out whether they have moved up a ZPD level. The ZPD level is a book range that is given to the children so that they can choose books (on myON, from the library or in their classroom) that match up to their reading ability. We believe that this is so important as it encourages a love of reading, as they read books that they can access. The best thing about the ZPD range is that it is exactly that – a range! This means that when children are given a new ZPD they are able to choose a book in the middle of their range and then as they gain confidence, we encourage them to challenge themselves and pick a book/s from the top end of their ZPD.

Reading catch ups – because we recognise the value of having regular conversations with our pupils about what they are reading, we have weekly ‘catch ups’ timetabled in between teachers and pupils. These are opportunities for us to hear them read, discuss their book choice and talk through any barriers to reading that they may be facing. As well as this, we also have specific members of staff who work across all classes with the task of identifying any children who might need extra support choosing a correctly levelled book, as well as helping to identify those who would benefit from extra reading support. We whole heartedly believe that these conversations are so valuable and we have seen the impact of them on our pupils, who are now confident at discussing their ZPD and book choice with anyone who asks.

Reading Challenge – to encourage our children with their reading and to celebrate progress, we run the ‘Reading Challenge’ throughout the school. All children are given a challenge card to complete in class which outlines what they need to do in order to complete the challenge. When children have completed their challenge card they receive a gold coin which they are able to cash in and receive their very own book!

Daily Reading is a comprehension scheme, based on oracy, which children start once they have mastered their phonics learning.

This runs throughout the school from Year 2 all the way to Year 6 and as the name says, it happens every day! Daily Reading is our way of teaching reading in a fun and engaging way as we encourage pupils to ask questions and discuss what they are reading in order to help them become expert readers. Our Daily Reading sessions are extremely interactive and we expect to hear a ‘learning buzz’ in every classroom as children discuss, debate and practice their fluency through choral and echo reading.

Reading in Nursery

As soon as your child enters nursery with us at Gray’s Farm we begin having discussions about the sounds they hear around them. This means helping them to identify and isolate specific sounds within the environment such as animal noises, a car horn and people laughing.  We encourage body percussion through clapping and stamping as well as enjoying rhyming songs and stories together. Many of the games and activities within the classroom include strategies to support visual memory and fine motor skills, all of which form part of early literacy skills.  When your child is ready, they are encouraged to hear the initial sound in words and begin using the RWI (Read Write Inc Phonics) strategies that they will become very familiar with once in Reception.

To encourage reading, we tell stories using puppets, props, as well as picking from a selection of storytelling hats. Children use resources to retell stories, and have access to a range of non-fiction texts; for example, having DIY/toy catalogues in our role play areas. As well as this, torches and finger lights are used by the children to highlight texts and pictures which they really enjoy. Story sacks and the class reading bear play an integral role in nursery and the children love being chosen to take them home each week. Furthermore, story sessions are added to tapestry along with questions for parents to check their child's understanding.

Reading in EYFS and Key Stage 1

At Gray’s Farm, reading is taught through ‘Read Write Inc Phonics’ (RWI) from the start of Reception. We begin by teaching the graphemes (sounds) to go along with the sounds your child has already started to identify in words. Firstly, they learn one way to read the 40+ sounds and blend these into words, and then they learn to read the same sounds with alternative graphemes. Your child will read in 1:1 and small groups depending on the learning needs of the child.

Our children love learning to read through RWI and we love to watch their confidence and love of reading grow from the start. Phonic books are closely matched to their increasing knowledge of phonics and ‘tricky’ words and, as children re-read the stories, their fluency increases. Along with a thought-provoking introduction, prompts for thinking out loud and discussion, children are helped to read with a storyteller’s voice.

When using RWI your child will:

• learn 44 sounds and the corresponding letter/letter groups using simple picture prompts
• learn to read words using Fred Talk
• read lively stories featuring words they have learned to sound out

Similarly to Nursery, Reception continue to use story sacks and reading bears with the children; all of the children love having the opportunity to take them home and retell the stories to their family, and of course to the reading bear!

Furthermore, our role play areas encourage a love of reading as children often have the opportunity to retell and act out the stories they have read as well as recite facts they’ve learnt from our non-fiction books whilst in role as palaeontologists (for example).

Your child will take home several reading books each week, including one at their individual level, which they are encouraged to read to an adult, as well as books from the book corner which are for them to enjoy as a family. 

Reading in Key Stage 2

Throughout Key Stage 2, reading accuracy and comprehension skills continue to be taught through Daily Reading. However, for those that need it, we continue to support the development of children’s phonological knowledge and understanding through small group and 1:1 phonics interventions.
Daily Reading takes place every day; the children will work as a whole class, in groups, in pairs and individually to discuss and unpick the text. 

Throughout Key Stage 2, whole class reading becomes fully embedded within our daily reading lessons.  Within these lessons, children are continually exposed to high quality literature, have the opportunity to develop their fluency and are encouraged to explore their skills in thinking aloud and internally whilst reading. In order to become more analytical, written responses to evidence-based questions and book talk are modelled and analysed before children apply this process independently.

During daily reading lessons, children will be taught several different aspects of reading including: vocabulary, prior knowledge, whole class discussion, fluency and explicit teaching of comprehension strategies. 

Vocabulary
In order to fully comprehend a text, children need to have a secure understanding of at least 95% of the vocabulary within it.   Every lesson will include a consistent approach to teaching vocabulary across the school with teachers following a script to ensure children can understand unfamiliar words within the lesson’s text.   

Prior Knowledge
Accessing children’s prior knowledge or giving children the prior knowledge needed to understand a text is paramount in developing children as readers.  Without this, children will struggle to make connections and understand the context in which characters and stories are set.   When introducing a new text, fiction or nonfiction, teachers will provide the background information needed for children to be able to fully comprehend. 
Whole class discussion
C Warner states that, ‘If we learn to decode through reading, we learn to comprehend through talk.’  Therefore book talk is essential to ensure that our children take part in open discussions about high quality, worthwhile texts; subsequently developing their ability to read critically and deepen their understanding and therefore appreciation.   Children are encouraged to build and challenge their peer’s ideas, using evidence from the text to support their opinions.    This is also an opportunity for children to explore and justify their opinions, make connections, summarise, ask questions and make predictions.  

Fluency
Our fluency lessons within Daily Reading, enable children to hear an expert model engaging intonation, expression, accuracy and automaticity.   Children learn how to echo and choral read, rehearse text with a partner and then use their fluency to aid their comprehension.
 

Whole School Reading

Every day the children listen to their teacher reading the Whole Class Book which provides children with the opportunity to hear a variety of high-quality texts being read aloud and discussed. Both the children and the teacher are involved in choosing the texts and chosen texts are then placed in their Star Book holder so that children can not only see their current class text but also what else they’ll be reading over the coming weeks.

The texts used will cover both fiction and non-fiction and include:

• Extracts
• Novels – both modern and classic
• Short texts
• Newspaper articles
• Song lyrics
• Video clips
• Poetry

​​As well as this, every day all children take part in independent reading which we call Simple View of Reading; a time for children to really relax and get stuck into a book type they love for an extended period of time. During this time, class teachers spend time with individual children, talking to them about their book, listening to them read as well as discussing any struggles that they are having with reading.

At Gray’s Farm, with the children’s input we continually invest in our library to provide children of all abilities with a wealth of books that will excite, inspire and develop children to become life-long readers. All classes have access to the library once a week, as well as it being open every day before school. 

All classrooms have an enticing book corner full of books that are matched to the levels and interests of the children within their class. These books are frequently swapped with those from the library so that children have an ever-changing selection of books to choose from. As well as this, we have school librarians who work together with the reading lead to ensure that we have books that match all of the children’s interests. Each librarian acts as an advocate for their class by bringing book suggestions or recommendations to the librarian’s weekly meeting so that they can then be purchased.

Each week the whole school enjoys a Reading Assembly. This is an opportunity for teachers to recognise and celebrate Star Readers, for the children to take part in our Masked Reader competition and for new additions to the library to be shown to the school. Our children love the Reading Assembly; it is something that the whole school looks forward to each week!

Finally, to aid our staff with the planning of Reading and to ensure that we not only meet but exceed the National Curriculum objectives we use the Gray’s Farm Reading Overview. This includes an overview of the books that each year group will use throughout the year. These book choices have been carefully considered to ensure that our texts are diverse, engaging, relevant, cross curricular and progressive. As well as this, our book spine is constantly being adapted to meet the needs and interests of our pupils.
 

SEND - Ambition and Access in Reading

SEND - Ambition and Access in Read Write Inc